Prices checked October 2026
Captions vs Topview
Two AI ad tools people compare before they buy. Here is what one video ad costs on each, what each does well, and who should pick which.
Price per video ad
Monthly list prices. One finished video ad is the unit.
| Product | Plan | Monthly | Video ads / mo | $ per video ad |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Captions | Max500 credits; AI Ads costs 1 credit per second, so 15 credits per 15-second ad. Credits are shared with all AI features | $24.99 | 33 | $0.76 |
| Captions | Frontier1,400 credits at 15 credits per 15-second AI ad | $69.99 | 93 | $0.75 |
| Captions | Frontier 2x2,800 credits at 15 credits per 15-second AI ad | $139.99 | 186 | $0.75 |
| Topview | PlusBilled yearly ($432). 100 credits/mo; Viral Video Agent is 5 credits per 15-second video | $36 | 20 | $1.80 |
| Topview | BusinessBilled yearly ($528). 3,000 credits a year upfront (~250/mo) at 5 credits per 15-second video | $44 | 50 | $0.88 |
| Topview | UltraBilled yearly ($599.90). 500 credits/mo at 5 credits per 15-second video | $50 | 100 | $0.50 |
"Video ads / mo" is the vendor's stated video count, or monthly credits divided by the cost of one video. Sources: Captions pricing page, Topview pricing page.
Feature by feature
| Feature | Captions | Topview |
|---|---|---|
| Portrait 9:16 video ads | ✓ | ✓ |
| Learns brand from URL | Product URL to ad | Link to video |
| Competitor + Reddit research | — | — |
| Multiple ad formats (16) | Partial | Partial |
| AI creators that post daily | — | — |
| Reels / TikTok / Shorts scheduler | — | — |
| Launches Meta ads | — | — |
| Winner / loser learning loop | — | — |
| API + MCP | — | ✓ |
| Free trial without card | Free plan, one-time credits | — |
| Photoreal AI actor library | ✓ | 5,000+ avatars |
| Your own face in ads | AI Twin | From your photo |
| Remix any winning ad from a link | — | Reference video recreate |
| Never trains on your data | — | — |
Which should you pick?
Pick Captions if you want: About 75¢ per 15-second AI ad on Max; Paste a product URL and get a UGC-style ad; Strong mobile editor with an AI Twin of yourself.
Pick Topview if you want: Cheap per video on yearly plans; API and MCP on every plan; Recreates a reference video's style; 5,000+ public avatars.
Captions is a well-made AI video editor, and its AI Ads tool turns a product URL into a UGC-style avatar ad for about 75¢ per 15 seconds on the Max plan, which is cheaper per clip than Addy. If you want to make and edit avatar ads yourself on your phone, it is a good pick. Addy is an agent rather than an editor: it researches the brand, writes concepts across 16 formats and posts to Reels, TikTok and Shorts, with its own actor library, your own face and remix from a link.
Prefer ads made and posted for you? See Addy vs Captions and Addy vs Topview. More head-to-heads: Arcads vs Captions, Arcads vs Topview, Creatify vs Captions, Creatify vs Topview, Icon vs Captions, Icon vs Topview, MakeUGC vs Captions, MakeUGC vs Topview, Superscale vs Captions, Superscale vs Topview, ReelFarm vs Captions, ReelFarm vs Topview, Tagshop AI vs Captions, Tagshop AI vs Topview, HeyGen vs Captions, HeyGen vs Topview, Captions vs Zeely, Captions vs Billo, Topview vs Zeely, Topview vs Billo, or the 2026 pricing guide.
How we compared
- Prices are each vendor's public monthly list price in US dollars, last checked October 26, 2026. Yearly-billing discounts are noted next to the plan where the vendor publishes them.
- Cost per video ad is the monthly price divided by how many short portrait video ads the plan buys. When a vendor sells credits or minutes, we convert at its published rate; when it publishes no rate, we use third-party reports and label the figure as reported.
- Features come from each vendor's own site and docs. A dash means we could not confirm a feature, not that it is missing.
- Addy is our product. To keep that from tilting the page, tools are listed alphabetically, Addy is scored on the same criteria, and its limits are published on the facts page.
- Something out of date? Tell us on the contact page and we will correct the page and its date.
Sources
- Captions: official pricing page, checked October 2026 (vendor pricing page shows iOS prices; AI Ads rate from Captions help docs).
- Topview: official pricing page, checked October 2026 (only yearly-billed prices published; credit rates from Topview's guide, updated Jan 2026).
- Addy pricing: our own plans, updated whenever prices change.
Questions
+Is Captions or Topview cheaper?
Topview, on list prices checked October 2026: about $0.50 per video ad on its best-value plan versus about $0.75 on Captions. Check what each counts as one video before comparing; some tools count statics or slideshows.
+What is the main difference between Captions and Topview?
Captions: AI video editor with AI creators, AI Twin and a product-URL-to-ad tool (AI Ads). Topview: AI video agent for link-to-video ads, product avatars and viral video recreation.
+Is there an alternative to both Captions and Topview?
Addy learns your brand from your website, writes hooks you approve, renders 15-second portrait video ads from 99¢ and posts them to Reels, TikTok and Shorts. The first ad is free, no card.
+Where do these numbers come from?
Each vendor's own pricing page or, where a vendor does not publish one, third-party reports, checked October 2026. Email hello@use-addy.site if something is out of date.